Fraxus Week 2017
by Eryis
Summary: My application for the Fraxus Week event of 2017. I hope you enjoy them and, if all goes according to plan, I'll have something prepared for every day. Contains Freed and Laxus being cute, domestic and overall delightful.
1. Day 1 - Nightly Routine

**Nightly Routine**

It was good to break the routine.

Freed knew what people thought of him. He knew that most of his guildmates expected him to have the strictest of timetables that was meant to streamline his day in the most effective way possible. He knew people expected that, if his non-existent timetable was interrupted, he'd become a panicky mess that couldn't be consoled or talked to until his day was back on track. Of course, this was all ridiculous.

People seemed to forget that he was a mage. A Fairy Tail mage, at that! You couldn't survive in a place like Fairy Tail without the ability to act on your impulses and take on whatever was thrown at you. Freed may like order and routine, but he certainly wasn't reliant on it.

However, sometimes this reputation he had gained could be used to his advantage. For example, mere hours ago he had been sitting back as Natsu explained, in great detail, why Freed should come to the impromptu campfire the guild was hosting that night. Freed did nothing but cross his arms and watch as the fire mage tried desperately to explain how the event would be unmissable, eventually ending up by spouting some nonsense about how the ashes of the fire would be good for his skin.

In fairness, Natsu's skin did look very soft.

Eventually, it was Bickslow who put the poor boy out of his misery. After being assured that Freed and Laxus would come, Natsu scuttled off towards the next table. The encounter gave the Raijinshuu a small chuckle for the afternoon and something to look forward to later that night.

Both Freed and Laxus were glad of the distraction for the night. Freed had been tasked with translating an entire book of magical properties from an annoyingly complex language. Usually translation was relaxing for him, but the pages of meticulous grammar rules was driving him to near insanity. Not to mention, he and his Fiancé's time at home had been spent almost entirely in different rooms for the last week. They both agreed that Laxus would distract Freed and that, once the book had been fully translated, they'd spend as much time together as humanly possible.

Although, as the days passed, the need to spend time together grew stronger and stronger.

"You're bein' quiet." Laxus commented as the two walked beside one of Magnolia's many canals, the path lit up by flickering streetlamps. "Anything wrong?"

"What? No, nothing." Freed smiled gently, stepping slightly closer to his fiancé as if to reassure him. "I'm just lost in thought, I suppose."

"The book?"

"No, definitely not." Freed chuckled at the idea. "I can assure you that that book will be the last thing on my mind tonight. I was just letting my mind wonder. I sometimes forget that Magnolia is known for its beauty."

And rightfully so. At night, the streets were lightly covered by tiny fireflies, their small illuminations flittering across the sky and often merging with the stars if the night was clear. The gentle, calm atmosphere gave the street a relaxed and nurturing ambiance that was unrivalled by the larger, more raucous cities. It shocked Freed that such a calm, quaint town allowed such a noisy and often obnoxious guild like Fairy Tail in the middle of its town centre.

But both men practically relied on the tranquil atmosphere of Magnolia to keep them sane. Compared to the majority of Fairy Tail members, they were quiet and reserved; Freed more so than Laxus. They both needed a place to relax and Magnolia offered that on a silver platter.

"Why'd Natsu say this thing is goin' on, again?"

"There's not a specific reason, I don't think. He said that, given recent events, we could all use some time off."

"Really?" Laxus grinned. "Cause I heard him say he's running low on food a couple days ago. Now suddenly he's suggesting that the whole guild has a bonfire with a crap ton of burgers, hotdogs and any other food he can think of."

"Perhaps that might have been the catalyst for his idea."

Both men chuckled as they approached the guildhall, walking past the main entrance and towards the back of the building. After the hall had been destroyed yet again, someone had the idea to make the building itself smaller and have a fairly large training area around the back. Apparently, Natsu and Mirajane had decided that this was the perfect place to hold their last-minute bonfire and barbeque.

As the two walked in, they both took a moment to take the sight in. Any form of training equipment had been hidden from sight, tables and chairs were scattered around and two separate barbeques were already in use. Guildmembers were sitting at tables and standing around, some eating, some drinking and others talking; all seemingly having a good time.

But the obvious centrepiece of the event was in the middle. A large pile of wood, mainly consisting of destroyed wooden furniture, was sitting ready in the middle of the yard. It had yet to be set alight, the couple suspecting that they were waiting for everyone in the guild to arrive before they did that.

"They've certainly made this look more impressive than it should be." Freed chuckled.

"Yeah." Laxus nodded as they began to walk into the yard. "I'm gonna get a drink, want one?"

"Er, yes please. I don't mind what."

As Laxus walked to the store room that had been converted into a makeshift bar for the night, Freed found a small table in the back corner. It was slightly further away than most, giving them a small amount of privacy but also allowed them to be involved in the celebrations and activities of the night. But for now, Freed was going to focus on the private time with his finance.

It didn't take long for Laxus to return, holding two mugs of frothing beer in one hand and a large bowl of peanuts in the other. He placed them all on the table, pulling up a seat beside Freed so they were both looking at the unlit bonfire.

"Thanks." Freed smiled, taking a swig of the cold beer. "Why do we have nuts?"

"T' make sperm." Laxus grinned, getting a playful nudge. "Mira gave them to me. It was either this or she cooks us a meal for our date night. To be honest, I just want a burger tonight."

"Fair enough. And a bowl of peanuts seems like a completely reasonable exchange for a full meal." Freed chuckled, taking some peanuts from the bowl. "Although we should take her up on that deal, she's a good cook."

"Maybe. But not tonight."

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they watched their guildmates go about their business. Natsu and Elfman were standing beside the barbeques, handing out food to whoever wanted it. Laxus suspected that one of two things would happen: Natsu would be caught sneaking food to take home try to defend himself, or Gray would take over from Elfman and a stupid grilling competition would occur between him and Natsu. Laxus wouldn't really mind that, the smell of cooking meat was good.

Right beside the unlit bonfire, some of the tables had been pushed together. A group of the girls had bunched up together, though were having small conversations with each other. What shocked the couple the most was that Evergreen and Erza were having a very friendly looking conversation. Perhaps they had become friends without the rest of the team knowing. Good for Evergreen.

Beside the makeshift bar, a small group of tipsy people had formed. Cana had somehow convinced Bickslow into a drinking contest, which was happening on the floor as the store house didn't have a bar top.

"We'll have to take him home, wont we?" Laxus sighed.

"Someone else can handle him tonight." Freed smiled, patting Laxus' thigh with a smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Laxus began to gulp down his beer as he and Freed watched the rest of the guild, keeping to themselves in their corner. They watched as Makarov walked in front of the unlit bonfire, seemingly sober, and gather everyone's attention. The yard hushed, a small murmur of finishing conversations and the crackling of the barbeques the only thing stopping the party from dissolving into complete silence.

Both men watched as Makarov explained that everyone should appreciate these moments of calmness and enjoy the breaks that life gives them. He explained that not every celebration needed a reason and that you were allowed to be happy for the sake of it sometimes.

Freed was somewhat taken aback by how eloquent the speech was. Makarov was pretty good with words, but today he seemed to have a certain kind of rhythm. He voiced his confusion to Laxus, who chuckled.

"I got him a book about public speaking for his birthday a couple weeks back. Guess he's been using it."

"I thought that you took him to a vineyard. Or whatever the beer equivalent is." Freed smiled. "I remember because you both turned up at midnight. Singing. Loudly."

Laxus groaned and rubbed his face. Freed had taken a lot of enjoyment in teasing him for his small duet with his grandfather. Apparently Freed was intending to tease Laxus about this until the joke was completely worn out. Laxus just hoped something equally embarrassing happened to Freed soon, so they could call it even. But so far, Freed was annoyingly good at not being in embarrassing situations.

"Yeah. That did happen." He groaned. "But I got him the book as well. I like giving him something to unwrap on the day… don't look at me like that."

Freed laughed when Laxus' large hand shoved his smiling face away. He leant against his fiancé and pecked his cheek with a smirk, grinning when Laxus groaned again and went red in the face. But he did wrap his arm around Freed's shoulders.

They watched as Makarov invited Natsu to the front of the yard so he could set fire to the bonfire, because it was his idea to have a bonfire after all. The whole guild chuckled when Nastu realised everyone was looking at him, he hadn't realised yet and was scoffing down a freshly cooked leg of chicken. As usual, the fire mage wasn't put off and happily walked to the front of the yard, swallowing down his food with hands already on fire.

It didn't take long for the mountain of wood to be fully engulfed in Natsu's flames, crackling loudly and eating up the yard immediately. The fireflies that populated Magnolia at night flittered around it. The entire guild watched at the fire in silence, it really did look beautiful. Elegant; in a burning kind of way.

The guild went back to chatting, drinking and playing gamed with each other. The girls had also begun to roast marshmallows and make s'mores, which was getting much more attention than the barbeques were now. Seeing this as an opportunity, Freed stood up.

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"Yeah. A burger. Oh, and one of those chicken legs, thanks." Laxus smiled.

"Careful, you might get a tiny amount of fat on your body. Would you be able to cope?" Freed teased, Laxus flicking a peanut at him for that.

Freed walked over to the barbeque that Natsu was behind again, the smell of cooked beef and chicken a welcome assault on his nose. He had forgone any kind of afternoon meal so he'd be able to eat some of the food served, not realising just how hungry he would be at nine at night.

Natsu grinned when he saw Freed approach, turning over a burger and pressing it down with a spatula. "Hey. Tonight's better than you though, right?"

"I am enjoying myself, yes." Freed smiled. "Can I have a hotdog, a burger and a chicken leg."

"Sure." Natsu grinned, taking out a large paper plate and starting to put Freed's order onto it. "I convinced gramps to let us have a couple fights after we put the fire out, winner gets free drinks at the guild for a week. Y' couldn't do me a favour and make Laxus join in, could ya. I wanna kick his ass in front of everyone."

"I don't think I could. He wants a relaxing night." Freed smiled, Natsu looking at him with pleading eyes. "However, it's been some time since I've been involved in an interesting fight. So if your foods good enough, I'll enter myself."

Freed relished in watching Natsu's face. Natsu was almost definitely someone who thought Freed couldn't do anything impulsive, his expression showed it. First, visible confusion as to why Freed would consider doing anything not in his imaginary routine. Next, a smile of realisation that his invitation to fight someone had actually worked for once. Finally, excited determination that he was going to have a fight with Freed.

Fists clenched and wide smile on his face, he handed Freed his food. "Hope you're ready to have your ass kicked."

"You'll have to prove you can cook first." Freed chuckled. "And I can assure you, that won't be the outcome."

Freed walked back to the table Laxus was sitting at, finishing what remained of his second beer of the night. The dragon slayer grinned when Freed placed the food down on the table, picking up the burger and taking a large bite out of it. He let out a loud, satisfied groan as he chewed on it, he'd also not eaten through the afternoon.

"He's pretty good behind a grill." He nodded to Natsu. "Why's he smiling like that though."

"I agreed to fight him."

"Why?"

"If I didn't he'd spend hours demanding it off other people. The night will be considerably more relaxed without his shouting." Freed smiled. "And we haven't been on a worthwhile mission for a month. It'll be nice to expel some of my magic."

"So basically, you just wanted a fight as much as he did."

"I'd rather you not shout it, I have a reputation to uphold." Freed laughed, taking a bite from his hotdog.

"Deny it all you want, but you're just like the rest of us." Laxus grinned, wrapping an arm around Freed's shoulders again, who laughed and nodded. "You better win."

"Oh, I intend to."

They both fell into silence again as they ate, relaxing as the impromptu party happened around them. For the rest of the night they drank, ate and had an overall good time. Occasionally, someone would come up to them and hold a conversation, but for most of the night they were left in each other's company.

Sometime before midnight, Freed had dozed off on Laxus' shoulder. He fought it at first, claiming that he didn't want to let Natsu down with the fight. Of course, the real reason was that Freed avoided sleeping in public like the plague and claimed that it was a sign of weakness that he couldn't afford to let people know about. Laxus suspected that was only the original reason for his disdain for sleeping in public and that now he just was clinging to that belief out of stubbornness.

However, now Freed was resting against Laxus' shoulder in a seemingly happy slumber. He wasn't snoring, he never did, but his heavy breathing was therapeutic to Laxus' ear. Which didn't make much sense, because until being with Freed he hated the idea of hearing someone's breath. But maybe love made him blind to weird things like that.

Natsu had rushed over to them in hopes of dragging them away from the table so he could fight Freed, but stopped when Laxus glared at him. The fire dragon pouted, but seemed happy enough when Laxus promised that, if he left them alone, either Freed or Laxus himself would definitely fight him in the morning. He scuttled off quickly after that.

Eventually, Laxus concluded that Freed wasn't taking a quick nap and that he was basically out for the night. Laxus removed his coat and made a makeshift pillow on the table, laying Freed down on it so he would be comfortable. The thunder mage jogged over to his still sober grandfather and waited to get his attention.

"Ah, Laxus, there you are! You and Freed are having a good night, aren't you?" He grinned. "I know your team are."

Laxus looked over to see Cana and Bickslow drunkenly laughing on the floor beside each other, seemingly having a conversation made out of giggles and drunken slurs. Evergreen wasn't any more sober, having a sloppy arm wrestle against Levy; even when she was drunk that woman was competitive.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to leave them to you." He chuckled. "Freed's pretty tired so I'm gonna take him home so he can have a good nights sleep. Y' don't mind dealing with Ever and Bix, do you?"

"No no, they'll be fine. The girls can take Evergreen to the dorms and Bickslow's pretty easy to control when he's drunk. Usually it's the other way around." Makarov chuckled. "You go home. And tell Freed he doesn't need to put too much effort into that book. I thought it would be nice to have translated, but it shouldn't be a priority."

"He already knows, just doesn't listen." Laxus smiled slightly. "See you tomorrow. And get some bandages, Natsu's gonna have his ass handed to him by one of us."

Makarov cackled and nodded. Seeing this as the end of the conversation, Laxus walked back across the yard to the sleeping Freed. He placed his hand on the smaller man's shoulder and shook it gently. Freed was tiredly lifting his head a moment later, groggily looking around his surroundings.

"Sorry, how long was I out for?"

"About an hour. C'mon, I'm taking you home." Laxus smiled, picking his coat up again and wrapping it around his shoulders. Freed stood up slowly, blinking away the tiredness.

"What time is it?" He asked as they left the yard and walked into the quietness of Magnolia's streets.

"Nearly one, so we'll be home by one thirty."

"It's late, then. I had hoped to sleep for a few more hours tonight."

"Then don't wake up at six to do push-ups and shit."

"It's part of my morning routine, Laxus. You know I like to stick to it."

Laxus scoffed slightly. They kept walking, the silence of the streets only broken by their shoes clicking against the cobbled ground. They found themselves holding hands, something which they didn't often do in public. They both preferred to show their affection for each other in a private way, be that at home or occasionally at the guild.

They remained like this until they got to their shared home, a small house on the outskirts of magnolia. It had originally been only Freed's but when they chose to move in, Laxus had sold his tiny apartment and moved in with him. It was a great place, enough space for guests and a huge garden to train in whenever the mood struck them. It was one of the few things that reminded Laxus of just how wealthy Freed was.

"Y'know, you blew off tonight's schedule like it was nothing." Laxus said as they walked inside. "If you wanna be a real badass you could do that with your morning schedule and sleep in."

"Really." Freed chuckled. "Well, what would a supposed badass do in the mornings, then?"

"I dunno. Maybe he could cuddle with his fiancé, I guess." Laxus blushed.

"You guess. I don't think I can rework my precious schedule on a guess." Freed grinned, Laxus glaring at him.

"Fine. I want you to sleep in so we can cuddle in the morning. Happy?"

Freed didn't answer, instead leaning up and planting a small, slow kiss on his fiancé's lips. He rested their foreheads together and stared tiredly into the taller man's eyes, an exhausted yet pleased smile resting on his lips.

"I suppose that can be arranged. If you're okay with being engaged to a badass, that is."

"I can live with that."

They both walked upstairs, Freed jokingly suggesting he talk to Gajeel and get some piercings to go with his new 'badass' persona. It was at the suggestion he should buy a leather jacket and learn to ride a motorcycle to get to their missions that Laxus broke down into laughter at Freed's ridiculous, tired ramblings.

"Get in the damn bed, idiot." He grinned, turning around to see Freed had already fallen asleep on the bed again, fully clothed and breathing heavily. "Yeah, such a badass."

"More badass than you." Freed mumbled. "Mr cuddles."


	2. Day 2 - Reversal Of Fate

**Reversal Of Fate**

Fate could be both incredibly kind and incredibly cruel.

For Freed, fate seemed to be insistent on only delivering the latter. Over the last month, his life seemed to be imploding in on itself. The legal firm he worked for had been bought out and they'd replaced almost all of the staff, leaving Freed without a job; his car had been practically destroyed by a drunken driver without insurance, meaning he was forced into losing his no claims bonus; and his mother had been taken into hospital, leaving him with a constant state of worry for her health.

Today, fate seemed to be particularly annoyed at him. His aunt had come to visit him, constantly asking about his mother's wellbeing. This would be a kind gesture, if it wasn't obvious how she wanted favourable treatment in regard to the will if, as she had constantly phrased, 'The worst were to happen.' The idea of being responsible for his mother's will was bad enough without greedy relatives scurrying out of the woodwork to get a generous amount of inheritance.

And to top it all off, his apartment building was having a power cut, meaning they keypad at the door wouldn't work and he couldn't get in.

"Thank you." Freed sighed into his phone gently. "No, I don't mind waiting. See you later."

Freed hung up on his roommate, and the only person he knew who had an actual key to the building, Bickslow. He slid his phone back into his pocket, knowing that the battery wouldn't last with the luck he was having today, and sat down on the small steps that led to the door of the building. He put his head in his hands.

He simply felt exhausted, both emotionally and physically. It felt like the world was conspiring against him and throwing anything it could to make his life harder. He felt like he could just close his eyes and sleep for a month, but that would require a bed. A bed which he currently didn't have access to!

Sitting on the stone steps did give him a small amount of relief. His car was still being repaired so he took a taxi to and from the hospital. It seemed that the taxi driver was either being impatient or simply didn't like Freed, as he dropped him off nowhere near his apartment and drove away before Freed could complain. He considered reporting the driver to whoever he was meant to, but that would probably backfire on him in some way.

He leant against the small railing on the staircase, absentmindedly tapping his fingers against the stairs he was sitting on. Bickslow had promised that he'd come home as soon as he started his brake, which would take just under thirty minutes. He was tempted to find something to do, but didn't want to miss Bickslow when he eventually came. So, he sat back and waited.

From: Aunt Victoria

Thank you for keeping me company today, it was nice catching up with you.

Frowning down at his phone at the seemingly random text from his aunt, Freed pushed his hair behind his ear and waited. The three little dots had appeared at the bottom of the screen as his aunt texted something else. He slightly wished that no text came, so he could pretend he hadn't noticed the message and ignore it. But unfortunately, another grey box of text shot up. Freed unintentionally clenched his hands around his phone.

From: Aunt Victoria

If you manage to find my reading glasses, please drop them off at my house as soon as you can xx

It would have taken so little effort to at least pretend she was interested in her sister's wellbeing. A small message of sympathy or even just a simple 'give her my love when you see her' would have appeased Freed. But no, she was far too focused on the obviously more important issue of her reading glasses. The damn things weren't even real, they were just a gaudy fashion accessory she used for attention.

He closed his messaging app, not wanting to read the text again and have his anger for his aunt grow. His eyes closed in defeat when placed his hand in his pocket and realised his headphones weren't there; he couldn't even listen to music to distract himself as he waited!

"Hey." A gruff voice said from above.

Freed looked up to see a tall man with broad shoulders looking down at him with a frown. He was holding a paper cup with something steaming inside of it and seemed to be waiting for Freed to respond. He didn't recognise the man, but his building was fairly large so he couldn't know everyone.

"Sorry, I'll get out of your way." Freed shuffled to the left so he wasn't obstructing the staircase.

"What, no." The guy said. "I just wanted to know if you're okay. You look a little… pissed off."

Biting back the urge to respond with the many snarky comments going through his mind, he slightly shook his head and laughed to himself, somewhat bitterly. It was ridiculous, he was sitting on the stairs of his apartment feeling sorry for himself; he was one impossibly eloquent monologue from being a sitcom character.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, though." Freed looked down, but noticed that the shadow the man was casting didn't leave. He looked up again. "I'm sorry, should I know you? I've had a busy day and-"

"No, you don't know me." The guy said. "I work at that store across the street. I see you come and go sometimes. Fuck, that sounds weird."

Freed sat and watched as the tall guy ran a hand through his short blonde hair. He waited for the blonde to complete whatever train of thought he was on, looking at the larger man's face. He was handsome, managing to look almost sensitive and rugged at the same time. The large scar on his face was interesting as well, looking exactly like a jagged lightning bolt. How one could get a scar like that, Freed was interested in knowing.

"Can I try that again." The guy sighed. Freed warily gestured for him to do so. "Thanks, right. So, I saw you've been sittin' here for like ten minutes or something. And it's pretty cold so I thought I'd give you this to keep you warm."

The guy leant down slightly and offered Freed the steaming paper cup. The other man took it slowly, looking down to see a thick serving of tomato soup inside of it. It did smell incredibly nice and wrapping his hands around the thin paper cup was already starting to warm him up; he hadn't realised how cold the street had become, not to mention how dark.

"Thank you, that's very considerate." Freed smiled slightly, taking a cautionary sip of the liquid. It was slightly too hot to drink. "I have my wallet, if you want me to pay?"

"Nah, it's on me. I'm trying to do something good for someone every day." The guy smiled back. "I'm Laxus, if you wanna know."

"Freed."

The two remained in silence, Freed cautiously sipping at his soup. He risked a glance up at the man named Laxus, noticing him frowning at his face again. He tried not to let it bother him, not at all sure what he should do in a situation like this. Freed very much kept to himself whenever he could, so this form of social interaction was foreign for him.

But still, the cautious and confused frown on Laxus' face remained and he showed no sign of leaving. Freed kept his lips against the rim of the cup, the blonde's face going back to a small neutral expression.

"Look." He spoke up again. "I know that this is none of my business and you probably don't want to talk to some guy who works at a shitty store when you've got all your work friends who are all doctors or business owners or whatever."

"Lawyers. I'm a lawyer."

"Shit." Laxus muttered, impressed. "But, yeah, sorry. But you look exactly like I did when I was at my mom's funeral. And nobody sits on their stairs looking like that unless they've had a really shit day. So, wanna talk about it?"

Laxus was looking down at Freed with a tiny but comforting smile. There wasn't any pity in his eyes, in fact they seemed oddly genuine. The blonde man was still slightly hunched up, so talking to strangers like this wasn't something he did often either. Freed took another small sip from his soup and smiled up at Laxus, his smile slightly sadder.

"Would you really be okay with listening to somebody you've never met rant about their problems?" Freed questioned, fingers tapping on the side of the cup. "Because, if I'm honest, ranting to somebody I don't know seems like it could be quite helpful for me right now."

Laxus' smile widened by a fraction as he took a step towards where Freed was sitting. He stopped and motioned to the steps. "D'you mind if I…"

"It's technically private property, but I'll grant you temporary access today. But if you annoy me I'll call the police and have you arrested for trespassing." Freed showed the hint of a smirk.

With a chuckle, Laxus turned and sat down on the step beside Freed, though he made sure that there was enough room to his left so people could walk past him if they were leaving or entering the building. They sat in silence for a short moment, neither knowing how they should approach the topic of what was bothering Freed.

"Have you ever had a day that's just completely normal?" Freed began. "Absolutely nothing happens in it but you end up reassessing every decision you've ever made. Thinking about all the insignificant things you could have done that would have might have changed your life. Because, even though you don't really know why, you're so exhausted with life that you just feel like anything's better than having all this pressure pushing down on you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"For the past two months, that's been an everyday event." Freed chuckled dryly.

Laxus let out a low whistle. "You got any idea why y'feel like that?"

Looking directly into Laxus' eyes, Freed laughed. The lawyer could rattle off a list of reasons why he was feeling like that, he'd done that very thing in his mind as a makeshift coping mechanism for all the stress he was under. So far, it hadn't helped him.

"I don't want to bore you with it."

That was partially the reason. He also didn't want to list off his reasons only to realise half way through that he sounded like a petulant child who thought that he was owed the world for gracing it with his presence. Of course, he knew that, in reality, his issues were valid and the concerns were warranted. It was a shame that coming to that realisation was considerably easier than actually voicing his issues.

"Freed. I'm gonna go home, eat a microwave curry and sleep. Nothin' else." Laxus grinned. "Watching paint dry is more interesting. You won't bore me."

Seeing it as Laxus' mistake to make, Freed began to explain his recent troubles. He didn't go into detail about the more personal aspects, like why his mother had been taken into hospital. He was as open as one could be when he was telling a stranger why he was sitting on his front steps feeling sorry for himself.

To his credit, Laxus had simply sat back and listened. Although Freed didn't want to make eye contact with the stranger, the few times he glanced up at the other man's face he did seem to be paying attention. It was almost funny, a complete stranger was better and paying attention to Freed's issues than anyone in his family.

"You, erm, you said you lost your job." Laxus said after Freed had stopped. "But said you're still a lawyer."

"I got another job, at a smaller start-up firm. I get paid just over half of what I was making before, so I've been forced to make some adjustments." Freed sighed, taking a gulp of his now cooled soup. "I shouldn't complain, though. My colleagues are an improvement and a job is a job. I just feel like I should be making progress in my career right now, not going back."

"I lost my job a year back, used to work at a gym. I was a manager actually." Laxus leant back. "Me and a couple of the personal trainers got into a fight when we were put in the open. Pretty nasty one too, couple bones got broken. It was my fault, so my granddad, he owned it, fired me. That's why I'm working over there now."

Both men looked across the road to the small, tacky convenience store on the street corner. Freed furrowed his brown in confusion. Going from being the manager of a gym to working at a convenience store seemed like a very large step back. Having managerial status in the past should have opened more opportunities than that of a recently graduated teenager. He looked back to Laxus with confusion, who seemed to have anticipated this reaction and was grinning down at him. Freed looked back down with a tint of red on his face.

"The gym's a family business. Gramps said I can come back if I start making improvements. He's started to let me work a bit, I'm training a couple clients."

"Improvements?"

"I've got anger problems." Laxus' foot tapped against the ground in slight anxiousness of admitting that. "I'm better than I was before, I think. I go to this group therapy thing once every two weeks. They're the people who said I should try to do something good every day, hence the soup. The people in charge are really fucking patronising, but I think it's working."

"So, is that why you had a fight then?"

"Yeah, I thought they weren't pulling their weight so I nearly doubled their work hours when I was pissed off. They tackled me about it and things got ugly."

Laxus winced back at the thought. He had never been a personal trainer until a few months ago when his grandfather gave him a client and only then did he realise how much work they actually put in. Looking back, he would have acted in exactly the same way they both did if his work hours had been doubled without his consent. It was why he put up with the occasional snide comment or the extra bit of work Natsu and Gajeel left for him to complete, even though they'd mainly forgiven him.

"So yeah, I'm just gonna keep working at the store until Gramps thinks I can work at the gym full time again."

They fell into silence again, the street now dark as the early winter nights drew in. The occasional car drove past them or a pedestrian strutted by, glancing down at them before going on their way. The weather was crisp and cool, but Freed had half a cup of soup left and Laxus had a pretty extravagant looking coat slung over his shoulders.

Freed looked at Laxus from the corner of his eyes. The situation was still so unusual to him. It was highly probable that Laxus was talking to him as an extension to his daily act of goodness, which Freed was fine with. What did bother Freed was how simple and easy the conversation was between the two. He was a private person and he got the feeling that Laxus usually was as well, yet no awkwardness had occurred. Not for Freed, at least.

"Maybe that's what you should do." Laxus said out of nowhere.

"What?"

"Well, I'm doing something good every day to help me get over my anger shit, so maybe you should do something like that." Laxus frowned in thought. "To me, it seems kinda like you're putting everything on yourself and letting it take over your life. Which makes sense, because of what's actually happening. But maybe, once a day, you should just do something selfish. It'll probably help more than you think."

"I don't really think I should." Freed hesitated. "Once my cars fixed or my mother starts to improve, I'll consider it. But not now."

"It doesn't have to be big. You can include your mom in it if you want." At Laxus' words, Freed frowned again. "You seem like the kinda guy who'll be doing anything he can to help. So you'll probably go to visit your mom and see what you can do to make her life easier, like do her chores or something. Am I right?"

"I suppose."

"So, instead of doin' all that when you see her next, just have fun. Bring in a bag of candy or something and spend some time watching cat videos on your phone or whatever you'd like to do with her." Laxus shrugged. "Play monopoly on an iPad, someone must have made an app for that."

"She does like watching people getting angry at video games." Freed smiled when he heard Laxus fight back a laugh. "She's unusual."

"Sounds like she's fun."

Freed nodded and smiled, taking Laxus back slightly. So far, all the smiles the green haired man had shown had a hint of bitterness behind them or they were forced. But this smile was real, and the man's face relaxed considerably. His features were subtle, but amazing. He was both handsome and beautiful at the same time, being one of few people who could boast that ability. Laxus almost blushed at the sight.

Glancing down at his phone to check the time, Freed realised that Bickslow could have easily come from his job and gave him the key to the apartment by now. He didn't find himself annoyed, his conversation with Laxus was actually quite enjoyable. Telling someone why he was so stressed did seem to relax him slightly. Apparently being stressed was making him more stressed. It was a vicious cycle.

Laxus managed to glance at the time on Freed's phone, sighing inwardly. It was getting late and his apartment block was a piece of crap. It automatically locked at eleven, meaning he would be left in a similar situation to Freed if he didn't get there in time. If he left now, he'd be able to get home with a fair amount of time to spare if the traffic was good. However, the drunken nightclub goers were going to start populating the streets soon and he always avoided them when he could; the last time he dealt with them someone pissed on his bike and he refused to let that happen again.

"I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna have to go. Are you sure your roommates gonna come?" Laxus sighed as he stood up. "Because my apartment's only half an hour away, you can take my bed and I'll sleep on the sofa. Or the other way around, if you don't wanna sleep in another guys bed."

"No, he's reliable. And if not, my upstairs neighbour works nights so I can wait until he leaves for his shift. Thank you though, it's a kind offer."

Laxus nodded, turning slightly to walk away but not moving. He and Freed were looking at each other, both smiling slightly. Neither wanted the conversation to end, but it needed to. Laxus widened his smile for a split second as a parting gesture before turning fully and walking. Freed stood up.

"Would you maybe like to go for a drink sometime?" He said with a small blush, Laxus turning around after mouthing a tiny 'Oh thank god'. "Maybe we can meet when I'm feeling a little less sorry for myself. If you want to, that is?"

"Yeah, yeah I would like that." Laxus smiled, matching the tine blush. "That could be your selfish thing for the day. Should we exchange numbers?"

Freed nodded and pulled out a pen and patted himself down to see if he had anything that he could write on. Laxus watched this and chuckled, taking the receipt that he'd gotten after buying Freed's soup from his pocket. He scribbled his number down and passed it to Freed, who smiled and held it against his phone, ready to use it later.

"So, text me I guess." Laxus grinned. "Or call, if you want. Your choice."

"I will, thank you." Freed smiled again. "Also, maybe after the drink we could go for a meal. If that's something you'd enjoy."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." Laxus nodded, face red again. "It's been a while since I've been on a… had a meal with someone."

"Me too." Freed smiled.

A mutual understanding that the meal wasn't simply a meal now assured, the two stood looking at each other. They were both slightly red, both smiling and both wanting to stay like this for as long as they could.

But sadly, the booming grandfather clock in a ground floor apartment made Laxus realise how late it was. He sighed and gave Freed a small grin, telling him that he really did need to leave so he could get home. Freed nodded and widened his smile again.

"See you 'round, then." Laxus smiled, before muttering. "Fuck it."

He took a step forward and pressed his lips against Freed's cheek. Before the other man had time to react, Laxus was jogging across the road with his hand in the air in a final goodbye to Freed. He was soon hiding behind an alleyway beside the bodega. Freed watched this happen with a small chuckle, resisting the urge to place his fingers on where Laxus had kissed his cheek.

Deciding that there was no point in standing anymore, Freed sat back down on the staircase. He imputed Laxus' number into his phone, not under any stupid nickname as he was a grown man and not a love-struck teenager, and leant back on the steps to wait for Bickslow, now smiling.

A loud revving made him look up, just in time to catch a man of Laxus' size ride out of the same alleyway Laxus had gone into on an expensive looking yellow motorbike, wearing full leathers. Any doubt of who it was got put to rest when the bike slowed past him and the man nodded to him from behind his helmet. Freed gave a small wave towards him, the rider zooming down the road quickly. In a manner that almost looked like showing off.

"Well well well." A tauntingly bouncy voice said from Freed's right. "I've been living with a closet flirt all this time."

Freed rolled his eyes, standing up again as Bickslow walked down the street with the key in his hand. The blue haired man was grinning from ear to ear and it was fairly obvious as to why. Freed felt himself giving a half-hearted glare at his roommate.

"How long were you spying on me for?"

"Don't know. Started when I realised you were thawing the icy heart of Laxus Dreyar." Bickslow grinned when he saw Freed's confused face. Most likely because he knew Laxus' name. "Remember all those times when I said I wanted to set you up with the hunky blonde biker who works across the street? Because that guy you were talking to is hunky, is blonde, is a biker and I think that maybe he works across the street."

"Oh." Freed chuckled slightly, blushing again. "I suppose that you might have been right when you said we'd get along."

"You bet your ass I was." Bickslow cackled. "But if you get in bed with him, I don't know much of your ass will-"

"Don't finish that sentence, please." Freed grumbled with a larger blush.

"Fine. Now let's get you inside and you can tell me all about your special little date." Bickslow grinned, hopping up the steps and unlocking the door with his key.

"I'd love to, I honestly would." The sarcasm in Freed's voice was palpable. "But I thought that you were on your break. And considering you were spying on me, your break might be ending soon. So, you might want to get back soon."

Bickslow's grin faltered slightly, checking his phone he gulped dramatically. He tossed Freed the key wordlessly and began to run at an incredibly fast speed; which was completely inelegant. Freed chuckled at the undignified behaviour, glad that he could at least have the night to himself while he came to terms with the fact he had a date without Bickslow hammering on him for any details he could get.

As he walked into the building and locked the door behind him, he realised that the sincere smile had remained on his face. Perhaps he was unknowingly exaggerating, but it felt like it had been weeks since he was able to smile properly.

In his mind he began to evaluate what had actually happened. One moment he was complaining to himself about how relentlessly brutal life had been towards him for the last two months, then a stranger was giving him some soup, then he had a date. It was all based off of convenience, as well. Any other taxi would have gotten him home before the power cut, meaning he wouldn't meet Laxus; if he had gotten locked out any earlier he wouldn't have stayed on the steps, meaning Laxus wouldn't have seen him; hell, if Laxus didn't go to that anger management group it was likely he wouldn't have started the conversation.

Perhaps he had to re-evaluate his thoughts on fate. Because it seemed to have reversed it's ideals and was defiantly on his side.

And he was more than happy with that.


	3. Day 3 - Overnight Training

**Overnight Training**

"This is fuckin' ridiculous."

Laxus was not happy. It was midnight and he was walking through a dense forest, holding a light lacrima in one hand and pushing past any branches that got in his way with the other. He was tired, freezing cold and incredibly irritated. Almost all of that irritation was aimed at his grandfather.

Makarov was a smart, strong and compassionate man and Laxus held him in the highest regards. But god did he have some stupid ideas. The old man had decided that his guildmembers needed more strict and formal training so they could better prepare themselves for an attack if it occurred, which made sense. When Laxus heard about it he was pleasantly surprised, Makarov hadn't done anything like this before and he respected the old man for it. However, that positive outlook lessened when Laxus heard how the training would take place.

Groups of ten would be picked at random, taken to a forest for a week and would undergo a series of tasks to train them for different situations. None of this bothered Laxus. Not until he saw that Freed had been chosen to be in the first group of ten and he had not.

So now, Laxus found himself walking through a forest in the middle of the night to see his boyfriend.

Laxus wasn't dependant on Freed, not at all. Since their relationship had begun, they'd spent longer periods apart than a week. It was something that came with working as a mage and both men learnt to deal with it. The blonde wasn't going to get broody, angry or depressed because Freed wasn't around him all the time and this week was no different.

But today hadn't been the best of days and he was missing his boyfriend. His crappy alarm hadn't worked so he woke up at ten in the morning instead of seven, meaning he missed his weekly massage that allowed him to work out as intensively as he did, not to mention half the damn day; his fur coat had been drenched in beer in another fight happening at the guild, rendering it practically unwearable for a few days; and then, to complete the perfect day, some kid's dog fell into the canal and he was forced to jump in and save it, freezing him in the dirty water.

On a regular evening, Freed would make the day better somehow. It could be done in many ways, ranging from giving him practical solutions to his problems to teasing he hell out of him and making it a joke they could laugh about together. But now, Freed wasn't here and he felt himself tempted to revert to his old coping techniques.

Less than an hour ago, he was lying in his bed muttering to himself. First, berating the clock that was taunting him from his night stand, then about how he should have taught those stupid bastards from the guild that they should be more careful and finally about how the girl should have put her dog on a damn leash. When he realised that he was yelling at a little kid in his mind, he realised that he needed to sort things out.

Originally, he was going to go on a walk around town. It would be practically empty at this time and the relaxing atmosphere would calm him. It was as he walked past the still partying guildhall he realised that his grandfather only owned one piece of property he could use for his training and he knew exactly where it was.

The debate on whether he should follow his urges and storm into the training building to see his boyfriend was short lived. He realised that it was a stupid idea almost immediately and that he had no right to expect Freed to make his problems, petty ones at that, go away. He changed his mind when he caught a small glance of the coat wreckers from the open door to the guildhall and a growl slipped from his throat. He was storming towards the forest a moment later.

"Can't believe I'm actually doin' this." Laxus muttered to himself. "He's gonna kill me."

As he got closer to the building he had visited multiple times in his childhood, he began to feel embarrassed. He might have made a rash decision, not thinking through what he'd say when he actually saw Freed. Doing this really would make him look like he was clingy, which he genuinely wasn't.

The large wood cabin loomed over him and he felt a nervousness grow in his stomach. Freed could be pissed that he was interrupting his training. Hell, what if he saw anyone other than Freed? What if he walked into his grandfather doing something and he was sent home, or the old man might have laughed in his face and invited everyone to join in on the mocking. Perhaps that was unlikely, but he was too tired and still angry to realise this.

But he swallowed his anxiousness and slowly walked towards the front door.

He pulled on the handle, eyes widening. Out of all the negative situations Laxus had expected, the door being locked wasn't one of them. And it really should have been at the top of his list of negative possibilities, because it should have been the most obvious one.

Running his hands through his hair, he began to assess his options. He could easily go home, but was ready to collapse from tiredness at this time and the bed containing his boyfriend was far too tempting. He could get inside using his magic, but that would make a load of noise and alert everyone to his presence. He could maybe try and look around the building and see if any other doors or windows were open so he could sneak in.

However, as he thought through his plan, the lock clicked and the door opened. From behind the door, a slightly unkept but apparently awake Gajeel was standing there, wearing only a pair of pants he had obviously thrown on in a hurry. Laxus turned around, the two men looking at each other in silence.

"Hey." Laxus muttered.

"Hey." Gajeel replied, voice blank.

The two fell into silence again, neither one knowing how to continue this odd situation. It was obvious Gajeel had only just woken up or was in the middle of falling asleep and now, for some reason, he was looking at an embarrassed Laxus standing at the door.

"How'd you know I was-"

"Y' stunk of booze. We don't have any so…"

"Right." Laxus realised he was wearing the alcohol stained coat.

The conversation was painfully awkward. Laxus wanted to see his boyfriend and Gajeel wanted to go back to bed. The awkwardness was not assisted by the chirping of the crickets that lived around the forest. Laxus rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment, not wanting to admit his intentions of being here to the other dragon slayer. Thankfully, Gajeel's tired mind realised this and spared him the embarrassment.

"You looking for your-"

"Yeah. Yeah."

"Upstairs, far right. By the window."

Gajeel walked away from the door and back to his own room on the ground floor, leaving the door open but not glancing back at Laxus. The blonde quickly walked into the building and closed the door gently, locking it behind him. By the time he turned back around, Laxus caught Gajeel's door closing. Hopefully, the metal mage wouldn't ever mention this encounter and it could be forgotten about. And if he did start to run his mouth, it wouldn't be hard to lie and make up something equally as embarrassing for Gajeel to be teased about.

He walked up the large wooden staircase, cringing when it creaked. He continued on, praying that nobody had been woken by the sound as he reached the balcony landing of the cabin. Thankfully, he'd visited here all the time when he was a kid and knew it like the back of his hand, so he could navigate it with the dim light of his lacrima.

As he approached the room his boyfriend was in, he wondered what he would say. He couldn't unload everything on Freed when he had just woken up but he also couldn't just turn up without reason. Against his better judgement, he decided that he'd make it up when he got in.

He placed his hand on the door handle, pulled it back and turned it. This was the room he always insisted on sleeping in as a kid, so knew the trick to opening it. He wondered if gramps had put Freed in this room specifically because of Laxus' fondness for it or if Freed had coincidentally picked it on his own.

Walking into the room he tried not to make any noise. He kicked his boots off and closed the door behind him with a soft click. He walked across the soft carpet, glancing out the window and looking over the view of the lake. It was magnificent. Laxus never dared close the curtains as a kid so he could wake up to that view and he really hoped that was the reason Freed had done that. Of course, Freed was probably just tired when he finished his training and couldn't be bothered to close them, but Laxus could present.

His improvisation plan had led him to remove his clothes so he was standing in his boxers, his green haired boyfriend still sleeping. He pulled at the sheets to get into the bed, deciding he'd explain in the morning. But then, Freed's eyes opened.

Laxus winced as Freed looked at him slowly, his tired eyes blinking to make sure he wasn't imagining the sight of his boyfriend standing there. When Laxus gave him a small, awkward wave, he sat up slightly and leant against the headboard, a yawn slipping out of his lips. Laxus felt shit for waking him up.

"Hey, Laxus." He smiled tiredly, pulling the sheets over his chest as the forest air cooled him. "May I ask, why are you here."

"The bed was cold." Laxus mumbled, inwardly scolding himself for what was possibly the worst excuse he could have come up with.

To his surprise, Freed nodded and shuffled slightly to the left on the bed so Laxus had enough space. A thankful smile sent to his boyfriend, Laxus climbed into the bed and laid down beside Freed. It was a tight fit, being a single bed with two muscular men resting on it, but they both managed to be completely covered by the thick sheets and were comfortable enough.

"Tell me why you're really here tomorrow morning, okay?" Freed said, yawning again. Laxus nodded, sending an apologetic glance for waking him. "Good. And I hope that his bed is up to your heating standards."

A small smile tugged onto Freed's lips as he noticed Laxus blush. He patted his larger boyfriend's thigh in comfort, as that's the closest part of his body to Freed. Laxus sighed, knowing that this was definitely going to be something Freed mercilessly teased him about until it turned into a joke when they both woke up. But as Freed's warmth and the smell of his apple shampoo enveloped him, he wasn't all too bothered by that happening.

Laxus wrapped an arm around Freed's waist and let his body go limp in fatigue. Freed curled up against his chest, having missed his boyfriend as much as Laxus had missed him. The two men enjoyed each other's silent company, both glad that there week apart had been cut short by Laxus' unexpected visit.

Eyes heavy, Laxus felt himself fall closer and closer to sleeping. He planted his nose against Freed's soft hair, silently wondering how he managed to get it so soft. A loud yawn filled the room, putting Freed's subtle and quiet yarn to shame. Just as he was about to let himself fall asleep, Freed spoke.

"When your grandfather comes in here to wake me up in the morning, you're going to give him a heart attack."

Laxus snorted, both men falling asleep in each other's arms within minutes.


	4. Day 4 - A Nervous Habit

**A Nervous Habit**

Music was incredibly important to Laxus.

For him, it was more than just something he listened to out of boredom. He had practically become reliant on it as a form of easy therapy. When he was a child and the lacrima had only recently been infused with his body, his ears were constantly ringing. It was like an ever-present form of torture that he had to live with. That was until his thirteenth birthday when some random guildmember got him a crappy music lacrima he realised that the ringing could be drowned out by something infinitely more tolerable.

After his magic had attuned itself to his body the ringing in his ears had stopped, but he still needed music. He listened to it when he was tired and needed to relax, nauseous from a train journey or when he was stressed out and needed some form of distraction.

The latter reason was why he was unapologetically blasting music through his headphones in a hospital corridor.

Evergreen and Bickslow would send apologetic glances and smiles to people when they walked past the small group. Laxus was playing his music so loud that the headphones he was wearing seemed redundant, but neither of them said anything to him. They knew of Laxus' reliance on music and knew that he definitely needed it in this situation.

The Raijinshuu, along with Laxus, had taken a mission that turned out to be bait. This was when a group of people left a fake mission at a guild and lured a mage or group of mages into a trap. Sometimes it was to rob them, sometimes to get revenge of some kind and sometimes to hold them ransom.

Usually, these bait missions didn't happen to mages of high stature. The people responsible would mostly downplay the danger of their fake problem so the mission would be ranked low and be given to training mages. However, this mission was an A-Class, which almost never happened.

The group responsible had a rune mage with them, so they expected that they could set a simple box trap and do as they please with whatever skilled mage took their job. However, what they didn't expect was Freed being part of the group that they had trapped. Freed was known for his skills in rune magic, practically famous for it. So, when they realised who they had trapped, and how easy they could get out of the trap, they had panicked.

An all put attack had been aimed at Freed. They had hit him with every spell they could conjure in their panic. It ranged from elemental spells, physically hitting him and their own rune mage knew how to remove oxygen from certain parts of an already created enchantment.

Their attack hadn't lasted long, they weren't strong fighters and the rest of the Raijinshuu had managed to defeat them with ease. However, they lasted long enough for Freed to be covered in bruises, scars and burn marks. But Freed had fallen unconscious, the oxygen removal spell having been in place for longer than what was safe.

Bickslow got him breathing again, Laxus was panicking and Freed needed a steady hand to be resuscitated. The moment Freed's eyes opened, Laxus scooped him up and teleported them all to Magnolia Hospital.

"I'm gonna punch that bitch in the face if she glares at him one more time." Evergreen muttered.

From down the hallway, some rich woman was glaring at them for the music that she could hear. Ever understood that the music might seem obnoxious, but anyone with eyes could see that Laxus wasn't in a good state at the moment. The music was the only thing that was keeping him sane and if she had a problem with that, she could come over and see what Evergreen thought of people who stuck their nose in her team's business.

Laxus was unaware of the woman. His eyes were closed and his ears were blasted by the loud drum and guitar track he was listening to. He hadn't been allowed in Freed's room in the hospital for whatever reason and until that changed, his world was simply the music in his ears.

He tapped along with the beat against his thigh, forcing back the image of Freed's hurt body. The group had been brutal in their attack and their lack of finesse had only made their attacks more blunt and powerful. It made Laxus sick to his stomach that something had happened to his fiancé and it was even worse to know it happened when Laxus was right beside him.

"Just let her glare." Bickslow mumbled, looking at the door Freed was behind.

Ever and Bickslow were just as anxious to see Freed good and well. Bickslow had been too focused on reviving Freed to let the reality hit him at the moment, but now he realised just how much Freed had been hurt. Evergreen had stared in shock. The mission was meant to be easy but now Freed hurt more than he had been for years and the shock had affected her. She felt awful for not being able to help at the time.

Out of nowhere, Laxus' hand shot up from his leg and took Evergreen's hand, squeezing it in comfort. Years ago someone let it slip she sweated a lot when she was nervous so Freed had put a rune on her that masked the smell of sweat in similar situations to the smell of her favourite perfume. Laxus could never block out his sense of smell, and the sudden amount of perfume in the corridor signified him to how anxious Evergreen was. And he refused to let her feel that without any form of comfort.

The three sat in silence, ignoring the glares they got for the loud music. Worrying about their teammate was much more important than letting insignificant people get under their skin. Freed was the biggest priority.

"Excuse me, who's here for Freed Justine?" A small nurse said after leaving the room.

Evergreen and Bickslow both stood up from slumping against the wall, Evergreen knocking off one of Laxus' headphones so he was alerted to the nurses presence. His eyes shot open and he looked up at the nurse, masking his fear of the worse happening behind a stoic façade.

"The patient is doing a lot better than expected. His breathing has returned to a normal state and the physical injuries are healing as well as to be expected. And given his job as a mage, I'm sure that he's used to dealing with injuries like this."

All three mages relaxed where they were, breathing sighs of relief at the news. Laxus pulled off the other headphone and switched off the music lacrima, resting his head against the wall. Freed was okay and that was all he needed to know.

"He's awake now. I've also got a request from him." The nurse pulled a piece of paper from clipboard. "He wants to see the inconsiderate moron who won't turn off his damn music even though he knows how loud it gets. He insisted that I use those exact words."

With a small blush, Laxus stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. The nurse smiled and opened the door to Freed's room, Laxus walking in. Freed was sitting up in the bed, arm and right leg in a sling. He was looking at Laxus with an expectant smile.

The blonde man slowly walked around the bed Freed was lying in, hissing when he realised that Freed's leg was raised by a sling. That meant he probably wasn't going to be walking on it for a little while, he expected that Freed wouldn't be happy about that. His arm wasn't too bad, he didn't have any bandages on it so it was probably a dislocated shoulder. The burns and scratches still made Laxus seethe with anger, however.

"Which one was it this time?" Freed smiled weakly. He regretted it, a cut rested right across his lip and smiling made it hurt.

"The drum and guitar one. Starts out with a minute of bass and then goes nuts."

"I like that one."

Freed rolled his eyes when he saw Laxus glance down at the clip board at the end of the bed. He had requested that the nurse read his status out from the clipboard to Laxus when she invited him in. But he had expected that Laxus would read it anyway.

"If it makes you feel any better, I know that I've recovered from worse than this." Freed spoke gently. "As has everyone in our guild."

Laxus placed the clipboard back into pocket at the bottom of the bed. He pulled up one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs that seemed to be in every hospital in Fiore and sat beside the bed, taking the hand that wasn't in the sling and wrapping his palms around it. Freed smiled at him again, ignoring the pain from the cut.

"Should've killed the fuckers." Laxus grunted, hearing the near silent hiss of pain from Freed.

"No you shouldn't have." Freed spoke with force. "Me being hurt is certainly not justification for that."

Laxus nodded but looked down, hand tightening around Freed's. He began to hum softly, tapping his foot against the tiled floor of the room. Freed watched with curiosity as Laxus made a small beat, even managing to incorporate the constant beeping of the heart rate monitor into his song. Bickslow had once suggested that Laxus compose music and the Raijinshuu should also become a band. It was a joke, of course, but if they had actually decided to do it then it most probably would have worked.

And it would have been amusing to see Gajeel's reaction, given that he saw himself as Fairy Tail's resident musician.

The two didn't talk for a short while, Laxus focusing on the music he was absentmindedly creating and Freed enjoying the sound. He couldn't pinpoint what kind of genre Laxus was trying to go with, but he enjoyed the steady rhythm and slow pacing. It was incredibly therapeutic. Freed slipped his hands out of Laxus' grasp and picked up a glass of water. Laxus didn't react until the heartrate monitor suddenly became too fast for the beat.

His eyes opened again and he glanced at Freed, dread filling his gut.

"Laxus, calm down, I'm fine." Freed spoke gently to calm his fiancé again. "I'm just getting some water. The nurse said that, as my breathing corrects itself, my heart will be sensitive to any form of movement. It's normal and you shouldn't worry yourself with it."

Although he did believe the nurses and doctors at this hospital, he had trusted them with his life multiple times, Laxus took the now empty glass from him and placed it on the side table. On the chance that they were wrong and Freed had an injury that they didn't know about, he wasn't going to take any chances and wouldn't let Freed do anything unless it was completely necessary.

Freed watched this with a sigh. He had hoped that the little joke he'd attempted when inviting Laxus into the room coupled with the nurse's assurance that he was fine would have calmed Laxus, but it hadn't. Freed didn't know what was going on inside Laxus' mind, most likely a lot of self-loathing or threats to the group who had done this, but Freed did notice one thing. Laxus was tapping his thigh in the exact same tune that he had described when he came in.

"Hey." Freed said to get his fiancé's attention. "I don't appreciate the fact you're listening to music in your mind without me."

He nodded to the music lacrima sticking out of Laxus' pocket, grinning when Laxus pulled it out and placed one headphone onto Freed's left ear, the other going on Laxus' right. Although Freed wasn't reliant on music, he loved it with an equal amount of passion.

Soon enough, a steady but pleasing bassline was flooding into their ears. They both sat back to share their mutual love for the track Laxus had chosen, both anticipating the sudden raise in energy that was going to happen. When it did come, Laxus began to tap his hands on his legs in time and closed his eyes, this time his face relaxed. Freed leant back in his pillow, smiling as his finace's nervousness seeped away.

He closed his eyes, glad that he had forgotten about Laxus' birthday ten years ago and got him that cheap music lacrima. He sometimes wondered if Laxus remembered that it was him who got him it, as they hadn't known each other well at that time. But that didn't matter.

Because now, they were calm.


	5. Day 5 - When The Game Ends

**When The Game Ends**

A loud, ferocious yawn parted Laxus' lips. He rubbed his eyes in a desperate attempt to keep himself awake, although it didn't seem to achieve much. He glanced at the grandfather clock that stood proudly in the corner of the room, blinking to make sure that he was reading it correctly. It was half past three in the morning. So perhaps Freed was right, they had been playing for a little longer than expected.

The Raijinshuu were a close nit group. They did a lot of things together, such as their monthly poker game. It was always a low stakes game with strict limits, they didn't want any grudges to occur between teammates because of losing large amounts of money. They all enjoyed it, seeing it more as a relaxing night between friends than a game where money was at stake. They ordered pizza, had a couple of beers and just let themselves have a night away from all the stresses that came with being powerful mages.

Laxus collapsed onto the sofa, groaning in pleasure at the comfort. The night had definitely run on longer than usual. It eventually ended with Freed going head to head against their guest player, Mirajane. They had hoped that the barmaid would stop Freed's winning streak, but she didn't. All she had managed to do was inflate his ego when he eventually won, and his ego did not need inflation.

"You better not fall asleep, Laxus." Freed said as he re-entered the living room. "I'm not cleaning this up by myself."

They had been the hosts for this month and converted their living room into a makeshift games room. Sofas had been pushed back, coffee tables had been moved into other rooms and bottles decorated every available surface. It was a complete mess when compared to the rest of the house and Freed insisted that they always cleaned the room before they went to sleep; that way they didn't need to do it in the morning. Laxus had other ideas.

He wrapped his arms around the smaller man's waist and pulled him onto the sofa with him. He nestled his face into the other man's hair, intending to keep him in his lap until Freed changed his mind.

Freed sighed. He was just as tired as Laxus was, more so actually as he had been sitting at the table playing right until the end. And as tempting as it was to just let the comfort of his fiancé lull him to sleep, he knew that it was a mistake. Cleaning up was even less desirable when you had just woken up, at least to Freed.

"Laxus." He warned, trying to hide his own yawn. "You know it's better if we do it now instead of the morning."

"It's morning now though." Laxus grumbled back. "So why don't we still do it in the morning, but after a nap. Like, an eight-hour nap."

Prying Laxus' hands form around his waist, Freed stood up and began to tiredly clean up. He picked up the pizza boxes, putting any spare slices into a single box so they could reheat them if they wanted to. He turned back to see Laxus showed no sign of moving, so placed the empty pizza boxes onto his lap.

"Trash." Freed instructed.

"Don't need to be rude, callin' me trash." Laxus tiredly teased, standing up. He shuffled into the kitchen beside Freed, groaning childishly when he saw that the trashcan was completely full. He looked to Freed to see him raise an eyebrow.

Pouting madly at his boyfriend, fully intending to guilt the smaller man into submission, he folded the boxes and shoved them into trashcan. Never breaking eye contact with his fiancé, he pulled out the trash bag and tied it at the top. Freed continually looked at him, unfazed by the behaviours his tired fiancé was using. Realising the futility, Laxus stopped and opened the door so he could put the trash bag into the dumpster.

"This is abuse, y'know." Laxus grunted before he left.

Freed laughed at him, picking up a mug of lukewarm coffee that Bickslow had been drinking and finished it off. The short amount of caffeine would hopefully keep him going until their living room was in a presentable state.

He walked back into the other room and began to pick up any beer bottles that had seemingly gotten everywhere. With the amount that they had all drunk, Freed decided that he would be kind to them both and leave the empty ones on a kitchen counter to be disposed of properly in the morning. He wanted to go outside into the cold as much as Laxus did.

A loud yawn, rivalling Laxus' in power, filled the silent room as Freed brought another load of bottles into the kitchen. Laxus had come in from the back alley in time to see this and tiredly grinned, a plan forming.

So Freed was tired too? How nice.

Laxus sneaked up beside him and wrapped his arms around the smaller man's waist, resting his chin on Freed's shoulder. He nuzzled the man in tiredness, pressing small kisses against his neck in hopes of appealing to the tired mans need for affection. His smile quirked up slightly when he felt Freed relax against him.

"C'mon." Laxus whined. "You wanna sleep as much as I do. We can tidy up tomorrow, we aint got anything planned."

"But if we don't do it now then we'll do the exact same thing in the morning." Freed groaned, trying desperately not to react to the soft kisses he was receiving. "Then it'll never get done."

"You sound like such a mom." Laxus groaned.

Freed tried to escape the grasp that Laxus had him in, but the larger man seemed more insistent in keeping Freed close to him than he did when they were on the sofa. The rune mage looked over his shoulder when Laxus momentarily stopped his barrage of soft kisses, giving him a half-hearted glare to show his annoyance. Laxus didn't seem to care.

The two stayed like this. It was a battle of pride and resilience, an incredibly tired battle but a battle non-the less. They both could be stubborn when they wanted to, so the victor could easily be either of them.

This time, it was Freed that cracked. But not in the way Laxus had hoped.

"If we tidy up now then we'll have the entire morning to spend in bed together." Freed whispered, blinking himself awake. "It'll only take an hour and then we won't have to worry about it."

Laxus let out a childish, drawn out noise of tiredness to show his distain at the idea of not being in bed for another hour. He wrapped his arms around Freed tighter, refusing to let him go. On a normal night, he would have been tempted to pick the man up and take him to bed by force. But tonight, the idea of doing anything remotely strenuous made him just as annoyed as the idea of not going to bed immediately.

He was half tempted to walk to the sofa with Freed in his arms, not letting the smaller man out until they were lying down and asleep. But knowing his fiancé's stubbornness, Laxus would wake up twenty minutes later when Freed was shoving the sofa back into its correct position with Laxus still on it.

"Make you a deal." Laxus groaned. "I'll help clear the crap up and put away the poker table, but we leave putting the furniture back until morning. And I'll do it all. I'll do it naked if you want. Just let me sleep."

Freed laughed softly and nodded, Laxus releasing him from his grasp. The two tired men slowly walked from the kitchen to their living room again. Freed took all the bottles from the floor and placed them where he had put the others, Laxus getting to work on folding up the poker table so he could put it under the storage cupboard under the stairs.

It took Laxus longer than it normally would, the occasional yawning breaks and sloppiness of his hands meaning the usually easy task was considerably more annoying. But eventually he did it, the large table becoming a small, compact cluster of wood.

After forcing the table into the store cupboard that really needed to be cleaned up, Laxus walked back to the living room. The mantel piece was still decorated with bottles, as was the corner Ever had been sitting in. That woman could drink when she wanted to! The blonde frowned when he realised that Freed hadn't finished off his task as expected, given that Laxus had taken so long with the table.

He walked back to the kitchen to see Freed sitting beside the kitchen table, head hung limply. Laxus chuckled and walked over to Freed, crouching down and looking at his face. His eyes were closed and small snores were coming from his nose. The little hypocrite!

Deciding he would be a valiant, heroic fiancé, Laxus finished putting all the bottles and food wrappers away so Freed wouldn't feel as though he needed to do them tomorrow. He left the furniture where it was, his arms still too tired to move the heavy sofa across the room to where it usually was.

Taking Freed into their bedroom wasn't too difficult. Freed was relatively heavy but the lure of the bed upstairs was very good at convincing him to keep going. However, he laid Freed on the bed the moment he could.

As Laxus began to undress, Freed woke up again. He sat up on the bed slowly, blushing when he saw Laxus grin down at him. He had only intended to sit at the kitchen for a moment just to have a break, but now he was on his bed. It didn't take a genius to realise that he had fallen asleep. He suspected Laxus would have a field day with teasing him in the morning.

"I finished off tidying." Laxus said as Freed began to undress himself as well.

"Even the sofa?" Laxus scoffed at the idea. "Good. I didn't want to sneak down and move them back so I could force you to do it naked again in the morning."

Laxus laughed, climbing into the sheets on his side of the bed. Freed joined him soon after, the two curling up against each other in their normal sleeping position. Their faces were inches apart, Freed smiling at Laxus in thanks. Now that they were in bed together, Freed was beginning to realise how stupid he was being. Cuddling with your boyfriend was infinitely better than recreating your living room.

Arms wrapping around Freed's waist to pull him closer, Laxus gently kissed Freed. It barely lasted a second, but they both pulled back with a smile on their faces. Freed curled up closely, sighing with satisfaction.

"I love you." Freed smiled.

"Love you too." Laxus grinned. "I'd love you even more if you let me win when we next play."

"I can't do that." Freed chuckled. "Everyone would know immediately. You're abysmal at poker."

Laxus playfully kicked Freed in the shin, pulling him closer against his chest. Freed laughed softly and mockingly rubbed his nose against Laxus'. The larger man rolled his eyes at the stupid behaviour, though leant upwards and pressed his lips against Freed's nose.

"Night." Laxus grumbled with a smile.

"Goodnight."


	6. Day 6 - A Day For Spoiling

**A Day for Spoiling**

"You know I kinda expected you to help, not just smile at me."

At his grandson's words, Makarov laughed. The two were walking down the streets of Magnolia in the middle of the day, Laxus carrying a large cardboard box filled with his clothes in both hands. His grandfather, however, was walking empty handed.

After dating for just over a year, Laxus and Freed had decided it was time for Laxus to move into Freed's house. They'd been discussing the idea for months and, after Laxus' apartment building started demand more rent, they had decided to actually do it. Today was the last day Laxus would see his crappy apartment and he was practically giddy.

In a cool, stoic way, of course.

Laxus wasn't the only person happy about the development in their relationship, it seemed. Makarov had been looking at Laxus with large smiles whenever he thought that his grandson couldn't see him. The blonde wouldn't have minded, but he asked his grandfather to help move his stuff across town. It was half way through the day, Laxus had made multiple trips across Magnolia and Makarov had yet to touch a single box.

"You expect a little old man do your dirty work." Makarov grinned. "For shame, Laxus."

"I don't. I expect help from the guy who can make his body big enough to fit my whole apartment block into the palm of his hand." Laxus grumbled. "And stop smiling at me, it's weird."

"Can't a man be proud of his grandson anymore?"

All of Laxus' past relationships had ended before he even considered moving in with them. Makarov was delighted that Laxus was finally comfortable enough with someone to share a house with them. And it was with Freed, no less! Makarov had been the one to introduce them to each other and now they were dating and living together. It was fantastic and Makarov couldn't be prouder of his grandson for doing this.

But however excited Makarov felt, it was completely overshadowed by Laxus. He couldn't even put into words how happy he was that he finally got to move in with Freed permanently. They'd been sleeping at each other's places for months, when they weren't on missions, but this was different. Laxus wouldn't have to say he was sleeping at Freed's house any more, he could just say he was going home and Freed would still be there no matter what. Going home and being able to say he lived with the man he loved was just so damn fantastic. Laxus hadn't really been able to sleep the night before because he was so excited.

Perhaps his excitement wasn't completely shown in a stoic and cool manner.

At this point, though, he didn't care. He loved Freed and he was taking a pretty damn big step in their relationship. Who really cared if he was acting a little bit love-struck? He wasn't bothering anyone with it and his reputation certainly wasn't the most important thing in his life.

Both Dreyar's walked down Magnolia's shopping district in relative silence, enjoying the tranquillity that the city provided. At Freed's house, Freed Ever and Bickslow were unpacking the boxes that Laxus brought them. It was considerably louder there than it was in the streets, so the two men were going to enjoy the quietness while they could.

Laxus was glad of the help they had, even if certain grandparents weren't actually helping. Both he and Freed wanted to finish the unpacking as soon as they could. The sooner it was finished, the sooner they could begin to enjoy each other's company in _their_ home.

"What have the two of you got planned tonight, brat?" Makarov broke the silence.

Laxus' mind immediately went to what they were planning to do in the bedroom, but decided his grandfather probably didn't want to hear about that. Truth be told, they didn't have much planned out. They just wanted to enjoy each other's company and relish in the fact that they lived together.

"Don't know really, Freed said he might cook if he's not too tired." Laxus shrugged before adding with a blush. "Might cuddle, I guess."

"I'm sure you will." Makarov laughed. "But you'll do more than that, I'm sure. Freed's a romantic and you… try."

"Thanks." Laxus mumbled. "And we did talk about gettin' each other presents. But we thought that moving in together would be kinda hard to top. Don't look at me like that."

Forcing his chin upwards so that he didn't have to look at his grandfather's stupidly proud face, Laxus grunted. The shorter man cackled at the reaction and grinned, sprouting off a small spell that extended his arms so he could take the large box out of Laxus' hands and place it on the pavement. The blonde frowned at his grandfather, who laughed again and pushed him into a nearby store.

Laxus looked back at the box of his clothes. His boxers were in there! Thankfully Freed had enchanted them all so they wouldn't open accidentally, but Laxus still felt uncomfortable leaving the box out in the open.

But he was unable to fight his grandfather so instead looked around the store he was in. Shelves were piled high with bottles of alcohol and behind the counter Laxus got a glimpse of wooden barrels. He recognised the place from when Makarov demanded he drop of the money for the guild's monthly alcohol purchases. Laxus suspected that Fair Tail was an important customer for the small shop.

"We don't have time to do this now." Laxus grumbled under his breath, not wanting to alert the guy behind the counter. "You can last another hour without booze."

"Don't be a brat." Makarov mockingly glared. "Just 'cause you and Freed aren't getting gifts, doesn't mean I can't."

Laxus watched as Makarov walked to the front counter and had a conversation with the guy working there. The guy walked through a door into a back room and came back a moment later holding two large bottles, one containing what looked like red wine and the other containing whiskey. Makarov dumped a large sack of gems onto the counter, took the bottles off the guy and walked back to Laxus.

Looking down at the bottles he had been offered, Laxus' eyes widened. The whiskey was a massively expensive brand that Laxus had only managed to drink once when he was doing an undercover mission as a rich guy, he had fallen in love with the fantastic taste. The other bottle was red wine he knew Freed loved. He blinked when he saw how long it had been aged; thirty years. It was older than them both!

"Fuck me." Laxus whispered, looking up at his grandfather. "This must have cost a crap ton."

"I'm a guild master. I get by."

"Wow." Laxus whistled. "You know you've set a pretty high standard of gifts. You'll kick yourself if me and Freed get married."

They both froze in that moment, looking at each other. Laxus realised what he had said and the fact he had so casually mentioned the idea of getting married. Makarov had also noticed this and he was completely beaming.

"Do not overthink that!" Laxus demanded. "We are not getting married. We're definitely not there yet."

"Yet?"

"Oh for fucks sake!"

Makarov was ecstatic now. Partly because of the idea his Grandson was happy enough and comfortable enough to get married to someone. And partly because Laxus was considering marriage at all. Less than two years ago, Makarov wouldn't be shocked if Laxus would never think about getting married. And now he had a man he was thinking he could get married to... eventually.

Now blushing madly, Laxus left the store with his grandfather. As an apology for embarrassing his grandson, Makarov picked up the box and began to walk down the street again. He decided he wouldn't mention Laxus' little slip up and instead wait for the inevitable moment when rings started to appear on fingers. Because, if Makarov was honest, the two men were weirdly perfect for each other and it would be more of a shock to hear they broken up than they were engaged.

Laxus was refusing to look at his grandfather again. He and Freed weren't at an engagement stage yet and he didn't want to get Makarov's hopes up only for it not to happen anytime soon.

Looking into the storefronts to avoid Makarov's eye, Laxus found himself stopping. In the window of a magical equipment store, something in the window had caught his eye. An item that seemed like a perfect present for Freed. So what if they had promised not to buy each other gifts? Laxus didn't expect Freed to get him anything anyway. And it did look perfect for Freed.

He was in the store before Makarov realised he had stopped.

 **-/00\\-**

"Please stop juggling with my candle sticks."

Freed looked back from Bickslow, who begrudngly placed the candles back where he found them. Thee rune mage pulled out a pocket knife and slowly slid it across the thick tape keeping a box closed. He lifted the lid and looked inside, seeing Laxus' entire record and music lacrima collection. He smiled at the extensive amount of music his boyfriend owned.

He had found much more enjoyment in unboxing the other man's belongings than he expected. In every box, there was a chance that he would unpack something that defined Laxus, like his music. With each box, Freed would be reminded of just how much he loved everything about the other man.

It had been hard for him to stop smiling today. He found himself constantly overjoyed that he was going to be living with his boyfriend, that they were going to wake up next to each other every day and fall asleep in the same bed every night. Bickslow and Evergreen had been teasing him about his apparently 'love-struck' and 'goofy' grinning throughout the day, but he ignored them and let them have their fun. If all he had to deal with was some teasing to live with Laxus, he would happily put up with anything they could throw at him.

"Freed. Where should I put all of Laxus' aftershave." Evergreen asked as she rooted through a box of Laxus' toiletries.

"There's a cabinet behind the mirror in the bathroom." Freed nodded to the staircase. "Put as much of it as you can on the top shelf."

"Sure." Evergreen nodded. She sprayed the aftershave into the air out of curiosity. After smelling it, she scrunched up her face. "You kiss him smelling like this?"

"Which one?" Freed looked at the uplifted bottle. "Yes. I like that one."

"Really? It smells like a kitchen filled with old, mashed up spices."

"Mushy spice attack!" Bickslow yelled.

Freed watched with amusement as Bickslow took the bottle of aftershave out of Evergreen's hands and began to spray it over her. She kicked at him as she was covered with the scent, her heel eventually landing in his stomach. Bickslow jumped back and clutched his stomach, cackling loudly and avoiding all the pillows that Evergreen threw at him.

Getting back to work, Freed began to carefully unpack the music lacrimas and records out of the box. He made sure to treat them with delicacy, knowing how much Laxus relied on his music. He wasn't going to start their life living together by breaking something that was precious to Laxus.

"I'd throw this at you." She slammed the bottle onto the floor. "But we don't live here!"

Deciding to be safe, Freed picked the aftershave up out of Evergreen's hand as he walked past her with Laxus' record collection. He sent Bickslow a look to tell him to play nicely, though grinned and winked at him when Evergreen couldn't see. When he started walking up the stairs, he heard the sound of scuffling. Hopefully they wouldn't break anything with whatever they were doing.

He walked into his bedroom, smiling as he realised that he would soon be calling this his and Laxus' bedroom. Sure, Laxus had slept there many times but it was different knowing that Laxus would be considering it _his_ bed. Freed's smile came back in full force.

The records soon found a home on a shelf beside the mirror, being placed right beside a small pile of books that Freed considered his favourite. They'd talked about where some of Laxus' things would be put and Freed insisted that Laxus' music should be put in pride of place. Although he hadn't admitted it, Laxus felt slightly honoured by the fact Freed had put some of his other favourite books onto the normal bookshelf so he could put his music there.

When Freed turned, he sat on the bed and looked at the crate sitting beside the wardrobe. This was Freed's welcoming gift to Laxus. They had agreed it wasn't needed, but Freed ignored that. When he saw this gift, he realised that it was meant to be owned by Laxus. And besides, he wanted Laxus to feel like this was his house and, hopefully, the gift would help that. Laxus wouldn't mind that he had broken the rules about getting each other presents, Freed hoped. It was too late either way, so Laxus would have to deal with it.

He walked back downstairs, glad to see Bickslow and Evergreen weren't fighting still. For a moment, he was confused as to why they were so enthusiastic, then he remembered that Laxus left his tab open at the guild for them to use when they were done.

"Nope." Bickslow grinned, placing his hand on Freed's shoulder just as he went to open the living toom door. "You aint allowed in there."

"Why not?"

"We're making it all nice and shit so you can get laid." Bickslow grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Freed raised a single eyebrow. "We're putting out flowers and crap. It'll look nice. Sex aint necessary but it's a pretty nice perk."

"If it looks nice then I can look at it, surely."

Before Bickslow could stop it, Freed opened the door and walked into the living room. When he walked in, he coughed loudly. On the floor, a pool of liquid had appeared with a smashed bottle beside it. The room stank of one of Laxus' aftershaves, thankfully one he didn't favour. Ever was standing beside a window that she had opened, wafting her face with her fan to get the smell away from her. She smiled weakly when she saw Freed.

Freed sighed and brought his hands up, runes flying out of his hands. The plated the perimeter of his living room and began to glow, the heavy scent of the aftershave being lifted slowly and replaced with the smell of Freed's usual scented runes. Ever closed the window after that, laughing weakly.

"Hey…" She smiled. "So, Bickslow did it!"

"HEY!"

"I don't mind." Freed assured them both. "However, I was promised a romantic sitting room and I intend to have one. So, tidy the mess and carry out your promise. And make sure you let you don't abuse Laxus' tab later."

They both nodded and began to tidy the small puddle of mess they had somehow managed to make with Laxus' aftershave. Freed was thankful that he had hardwood floors as a stain wasn't an attractive quality.

As they cleaned, Ever and Bickslow shared a glance, smiling at each other. On a normal day, Freed would have given them at least a little scolding for being so stupid and inconsiderate. So it was completely adorable that Freed hadn't done any scolding today, instead letting them off easy. He was so cute when he was in love. Which was all the time now!

"You two can stop with that." They heard Freed snap playfully. "Unless you want to take a trip to the bakery across town to get me a cake."

"Yes sir." They mockingly replied, smirking.

 **-/00\\-**

"Cheers."

Sitting on their sofa, Laxus and Freed clinked their classes together. They were alone now, the majority of Laxus' things had been unpacked and they had decided to leave the rest until morning. Laxus had opened the wine his grandfather had gifted them so they could have a relaxing evening drink; Freed's shocked reaction when he first tasted it was fantastic.

Evergreen and Bickslow had more than fulfilled their promise. They had filled the room with red roses, had purchase some fancy chocolates for them both to enjoy and even tided it past Freed's fairly strict ideas of cleanliness.

The two were resting against each other, Laxus draping an arm around Freed who was leaning against his side. A music lacrima filled the quietness with a gentle, quiet piano instrumental. It was one of Laxus' favourites, which was why Freed had chosen it. The blonde thanked Freed by planting a kiss or two on the top of his head.

"Can't believe we're livin' together." Laxus' grin was audible and it made Freed smile. "It's fuckin' amazing."

He wasn't lying. They'd only really been living together one afternoon but it already felt right. After dropping the last box off from his apartment, Laxus was exhausted so slept on his new bed. He woke up an hour later, clutching at a pillow that smelled faintly like Freed, and he just felt at home. Other than Freed's smell, there was no real reason for him to feel as comfortable as he did. But yet, he felt weird that he hadn't been living there already.

Freed shared the sentiment completely. After Laxus had woken up, he had walked downstairs and pulled Freed away from the clothes he was folding and wrapped his arms around him. They kissed gently and ended up lounging on the sofa, Laxus massaging Freed's hand when he realised the knife had been causing some minor irritation. Freed claimed it wasn't necessary, but Laxus said he was allowed to spoil his roommate whenever he damn well wanted. Freed felt himself involuntarily smiling at Laxus' emphasis on the word roommate.

"It really is." Freed leant his head against Laxus' shoulder. "Remind me to thank the master when I see him next. This is extremely generous."

"Yeah. Just, er, don't mention anything about wedding gifts when you do it." Laxus grumbled slightly, Freed turning around with a raised eyebrow. "Don't wanna get him excited, right?"

"I suppose not. But I want to hear the story that got you to say that later." Freed chuckled.

Laxus blushed and looked away when Freed grinned at him. He pushed the other man's grinning face away and reached for a chocolate from the box beside them. Neither man had a particularly sweet pallet but they both could enjoy the sweets in moderation. And these were pretty good chocolates, Bickslow had good taste.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they drank their wine, Laxus slowly humming along to the piano instrumental that filled the room. Freed smiled at the small sounds his boyfriend was making, feeling the small rumble that came with each hum. This silence continued for a short while until Laxus finished his wine. He adjusted himself on the sofa slightly so that they could look at each other, Freed waiting for whatever Laxus wanted to say to him.

"I know we said we shouldn't, but I saw something earlier today so I got it you." Laxus hopped up and took a long, leather box with a ribbon around it from the cupboard under the stairs. He handed it to Freed with a smile. "Hope you like it."

Freed slowly took the long box from Laxus and carefully opened it, making sure not to tear into the ribbon as he did so. He lifted the lid and looked down at his gift, eyes widening slightly.

In between the velvet lined casing rested a rapier scabbard. Freed had offhandedly mentioned that his was starting to wear away because of how much he used it months ago, not expecting Laxus to care. The scabbard was a red slightly darker than Freed's coat with muted yellow trimmings. It had a simplistic, regal looking design that could work well with Freed's style of attire. He pulled out the scabbard and ran his fingers across it, the leather used was incredibly high quality. Smiling at his boyfriend, he leant across and kissed him slowly.

"Thank you so much." He said after they pulled apart, resting their foreheads together. "This is so nice of you."

"That's not even the best part." Laxus grinned, slightly proud of the reaction he got. "I know you hate sharpening your sword, so I got this enchanted. So whenever you put your sword in there, it'll sharpen it to the best it can be."

Again, Freed kissed Laxus. Their lips moved slowly against each other as Laxus' hands nestled into Freed's long hair to bring him closer. Freed smiled when he found himself half leaning on Laxus' lap, staring up at his boyfriend happily when they pulled apart.

"And don't worry about gettin' me anything. We said we wouldn't and I didn't expect anything." Laxus smiled. "But, like I said. I get to spoil you all I want."

Freed grinned slightly. He brought their lips together again and slowly began to kiss against the larger man's neck, nuzzling him with his nose. He smiled when he felt Laxus lean back, running his hands through Freed's silky hair in relaxed pleasure.

"I assume the spoiling rule works both ways." Freed murmured. "Because I've got a gift for you upstairs."

"Is it you naked? Cause I want that gift all the time."

"No. That will probably happen anyway, but that's not what I'm talking about." Freed chuckled, rolling his eyes at Laxus' smirk.

They both walked upstairs into their bedroom, Laxus eyeing the large crate. He had seen it when he had been in there earlier but paid no mind to it, expecting it to be something of Freed's that was moved so Laxus' stuff could fit somewhere. But with the knowledge that Freed had gotten him a gift, Laxus couldn't help but feel excited by it. After Freed gestured for him to open it, he practically pounced on it.

He opened the lid with care, though not the same care Freed gave the ribbon. He had to pull the box apart almost fully so he could see what it was. But, when the realisation hit, his jaw dropped.

"No! You didn't! Fuck no you didn't!" Laxus gaped down, turning to Freed. He wrapped his arms around Freed and lifted him up in a huge hug, kissing his face all over. "You're fucking amazing."

The gift was a large record player, traditional looking but clearly new in creation. Despite owning a record of every piece of music he loved, Laxus had never owned a record player. A music store he frequented had one he often listened to. Perhaps he was pretentious about music, but he always felt that music lacrimas couldn't hold a candle to anything from a record player. And now he had one in his house!

Eventually, Freed was forced to push Laxus' face away from his own. He definitely appreciated the kisses from his boyfriend, but he was one slip up away from getting some lips on his open eye. And besides, Laxus didn't know every feature about the record player.

"It works with your headphones as well. I was assured that the music quality was exactly the same with and without them." Freed smiled. "And the range is unlimited. So, you could listen to it on a mission if you wished."

Freed was knocked back onto the bed, Laxus climbing above him and covering him with a barrage of kisses yet again. The rune mage laughed at Laxus' behaviour, the kisses covering his face starting to tickle. Eventually he managed to push Laxus off him so they were both lying upright on the bed. They both were chuckling gently.

Almost simultaneously, the looked over to each other with smiled on their faces. They laid in silence for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. They both came to the realisation that this was the sight they would be waking up to from now on. And neither of them would complain about that.

"Welcome home." Freed whispered.

"Thanks for havin' me." Laxus grinned.


	7. Day 7 - Playing By The Pool

**Playing By The Pool**

"Holy shit."

Towel slung over his left shoulder, Laxus let out an impressed whistle as he walked onto the sky deck of the cruise he was on. The boat was still docked in Hargeon port but that wasn't going to stop the blonde from lounging around the pool in the hot summer sun. He had a week on this cruise and he planned to use his time effectively.

Freed walked beside him, also carrying a white towel. He looked over the pool, impressed with the lavishness of the expansive deck. The pool was incredibly large, bordered by two bars and more than one hundred sun loungers. It was basically empty, as the couple had been granted early boarding.

"The guild certainly didn't set a strict budget, it seemed." Freed commented as they walked beside the pool. "I feel slightly guilty."

"Don't. We both knew they'd get us something big. Just be glad they didn't hire the ship out just the two of us for the whole week. Then they might have been pushing it."

The cruise was Freed and Laxus' honeymoon and wedding gift from Fairy Tail. Their actual wedding had been over a month ago, however they had to wait this long as The Raijinshuu had been specially requested to go on a mission. The couple had discussed the issue and, after Makarov assured them they could easily rearrange the time of their honeymoon without wasting money, they came to the conclusion that the mission should hold a higher priority. Evergreen and Bickslow had made it fun anyway, pretending it was a rehearsal honeymoon and refusing to let them pay for anything the month they were away.

But the mission had been a tough one, so the relaxing break was more than appreciated by them both. Now they could enjoy each other's company and push back the stress that came with their career.

Deciding to settle under the sun and beside the bar, they both placed their towels on some cushioned sun loungers. Laxus walked towards the bar and leant on it, looking over the menu. The bartender allowed him some time to think, Laxus turning around to see Freed sitting on his lounger with his sunglasses on. He was reading some book that Laxus knew he was excited to get to the end of.

"Hey." He raised his voice slightly to get Freed's attention. "What d'you want."

Freed thought for a moment. "Just water, please."

Laxus rolled his eyes and turned back to the barman. "Just a second."

The blonde walked to his new husband and looked down on him, waiting for him to react. Freed looked up when a large shadow was cast over him, removing his sunglasses to look at Laxus. The two stared at each other, waiting for the other man to speak. Laxus' patience wasn't as large as Freed's was.

He took the book out of Freed's hands and placed it on the other lounger. As Freed frowned and leaned over to pick up his book, Laxus took the opportunity and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, picking him up and trapping him there. He walked to the poolside, keeping Freed's feet just above the decking as he squirmed and glared at him. He stopped beside the pool, holding Freed just above the water with a grin on his face.

"We're on vacation, you aint allowed to be healthy on a vacation." Laxus spoke bluntly, as if he wasn't holding his fully dressed husband above the water. "So order a drink that you actually wanna have, or you might end up drinking some nice, chlorine filled pool water."

"You wouldn't dare." Freed playfully glared, looking over his shoulder.

"Y'know. It's really hot here. Might be getting delirious." Laxus spoke in a mockingly wistful voice. "My arms feel weak. My grip's slipping. Oh no."

Laxus released his grip on Freed for a moment, grasping him around his chest. Freed's feet and ankles were submerged in the warm water, thankfully he was wearing swimming shorts. But he was still wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt and he wouldn't enjoy being submerged in the water wearing that, it would cling to him completely.

Freed had squeaked when Laxus dropped him slightly, glaring directly into Laxus' smug, grinning face. He sighed when he realised that Laxus wasn't going to give up on this, so sent his husband a small grin.

"I'll get you back for this." He smirked. "But, if I must, I'll have a non-alcoholic cocktail. You can choose it."

"Good choice."

Laxus released his grip completely. He turned around as Freed was dropped into the warm water of the pool, chuckling at the sound of Freed's shocked squeak. He looked over his shoulder to see Freed's head shoot up from under the water, moving his hair from his face and pulling at his wet, white shirt.

Deciding it would be better to leave Freed to his _fun_ in the pool, Laxus turned back to the bar and ordered them both non-alcoholic cocktails; they didn't want to drink in the morning after all. He took the drinks from the barman, who was smiling slightly.

He walked back to his lounger, placing Freed's drink on the wooden decking beside Freed's chair. He made sure to exaggerate his comfort as he sat on his own chair, watching Freed climb out of the pool. The rune mage didn't stop glaring at him as he left the pool and stood at the end of Laxus' lounger. The crossed arms and glare made Laxus snigger loudly into his drink. He went to put his glass on the decking so he could properly react, but Freed interrupted him.

"The second you put that down, you're going in the water." He threatened as he took of his clinging shirt.

"See, you're threatenin' me but you're also taking off your shirt. Mixed signals, really." Laxus grinned, lifting his glass up again and ceremoniously drinking it. "Guess I'll just never put this down then."

Freed glared at Laxus, walking to the small bag his towel and book had been stored in, taking a small hairband and tying his hair up at the top so his hair wouldn't become too big of a mess. Seeing as he was already wet and had been acclimatised to the heat of the water, he slipped back into the pool, this time by his own request.

Laxus watched this from behind his own sunglasses with a smile. It was obvious that Freed wasn't actually annoyed at him, Laxus knew him well enough to know his husband was just playing with him. Although, Laxus was sure that Freed would definitely carry out the threat he had made without a second thought.

The rune mage was swimming elegantly across the water, the pool was practically empty beside him. The cruise had two pools on the sky deck and this was the smaller, but less used one. Laxus watched as his husband happily swam the length of the water multiple times. When he learnt that Freed was relaxed by swimming he was shocked, but it became obvious that he loved swimming with how much time he actually spent in the water when he had the time.

After watching his husband for a short while, Laxus leant back on the lounger and closed his eyes behind his sunglasses. He wasn't the type to sunbathe normally, but after the month-long mission he was more than happy to relax in the sun. He let out a loud yawn, feeling the need to sleep grow.

But before he could sleep, he was splattered with water.

He shot up immediately and removed his sunglasses, looking down to see his husband leaning on the poolside with a challenging raised eyebrow aimed directly at him. Laxus laughed in shock, looking down at his now wet shorts and t-shirt. His eyes narrowed at his husband as he removed his own shirt.

"The boat lurched." Freed blatantly lied. "But only in a way that made _you_ wet."

"I'd play along." Laxus said as he placed his sunglasses down on the deck. "But I wanna hear you say that you splashed me."

"Why?" Freed chuckled.

"Because I wanna hear you say that you did something as immature as Natsu and his cat." Laxus grinned. "Actually, I want it to be in Fairy Tail's history. Everyone needs to know that Freed Justine is an immature, splashing little brat."

"Well, you're not entirely wrong." Freed smiled. "But you made one little mistake."

Laxus frowned when Freed gestured for him to come closer. He crouched down beside Freed, who had leant forward. Freed wordlessly placed their lips together and kissed his husband slowly, running his hands through the soft blonde hair. He stopped before it got heated, remembering that they were in a public place.

"My name's Justine-Dreyar now." Freed whispered tenderly.

It took a moment, but Laxus' small grin broke into a large, happy smile. He reinitiated the kiss between them both, running his hands through Freed's trapped, soaking wet hair. They rested their foreheads together, Freed panting gently after his small-time swimming and the kiss. They stared at each other's eyes for a moment, enjoying the sight of each other in the calmness of the cruise sky deck.

Eventually they pulled apart from each other, Laxus returning to his lounger and Freed treading water, enjoying the warm water covering his body. The rune mage noticed something that made him smirk. He swam back to the end of the pool again, waiting for Laxus to notice him.

"You put your glass down."

Laxus' eyes widened and he managed to get out a small curse as his hands quickly began to dissolve into Freed's runes. He managed to send a glare at his husband just before the teleportation spell his husband had cast on him took full effect. A second later, Laxus found himself one-meter above the water.

He cringed when he was dropped into the water from the air, a large splash cutting through the quietness of the deck. It took a moment for Laux to emerge from the surface of the pool, hair wet and face glaring at his husband.

"Dirty trick." Laxus grumbled, slowly walking towards Freed. "So, you better run."

"I'd rather swim. It's much more efficient in the water." Freed leant against the wall, looking ready to swim. "But by all means, you can run."

Freed kicked off from the wall, swimming at a fast speed away from his husband. Laxus grumbled as he began to swim after Freed, not as fast as the other man. He pouted slightly, seeing it unfair that Freed could use his magic completely but Laxus couldn't do anything without the chance of electrocuting someone else who was in the pool. But thankfully, Laxus had one advantage. Freed was getting cocky.

As the rune mage grew more confident in Laxus' inability to get to him, he began to taunt Laxus by swimming past him closer. His eyes widened when a hand grasped his ankle, stopping him in his tracks. He looked back to see Laxus grinning at him.

"Damn." Freed mumbled.

Laxus dragged him back across the water and grasped Freed's head with both hands, forcing the other man under the surface of the water with a cackle. He left Freed under there for only a few seconds, knowing he could handle it, before he removed his hands and let his husband out so he could start to glare at him.

"It's your own fault for bein' a cocky shit." Laxus grinned.

The blonde watched Freed as he clearly plotted his next move. It took significantly less time than Laxus expected, because Freed practically tackled him and held him under the water in exactly the same way he had just undergone.

Laxus wrapped his arms around Freed's waists again and, with some difficulty because of the water, lifted him up. Freed squeaked when he was somehow lifted over Laxus' shoulder, wondering how the blonde had managed to turn this on him so quickly. Having a husband with that much muscle had significantly annoying moments.

Holding Freed above his shoulder like a trophy of some kind, Laxus began to walk around the pool casually. He ignored the threats coming from the other man, glad that most of them contained a lot of playful insults and laughing from his rune mage. The blonde chuckled when Freed punched him against the chest, reaching up and kissing him on the nose. Freed blushed at that, deciding not to follow up with another punch. He would let Laxus tire himself out.

"There's only one way to get down." Laxus grinned. "And it aint squirming."

"Oh, just tell me before the pool gets too crowded." Freed mumbled.

"Why, you gonna get embarrassed?" Laxus teased.

"No. But if you keep swinging me around in here I'll end up kicking someone. So, tell me what I need to do." Freed rolled his eyes. "Quickly please."

Laxus put his spare hand on his chin, humming as if he was in thought. Freed waited for Laxus to go through his little melodrama, deciding that he probably wouldn't do this for too long and get he'd get bored by this soon.

"To get out, you need to confess your undying love for your thunder god." Laxus grinned.

"I'm not going to call you that."

"Well I hope you like the view then. Or maybe you'd like to see the water from a closer angle."

With a large laugh, Laxus began to slowly lower Freed downwards towards the water again, face first. He took his time, not actually intending to submerge Freed in the water. How would he manage to admit his undying love for the thunder god if his mouth was filled with water? It was impossible!

Freed was intending to see how far Laxus was willing to go. His hair was almost completely floating across the water by the time be chose to give into Laxus' desires. He sighed and looked towards Laxus, groaning at his smug smile.

"Fine. I greatly love my… thunder god and I will do until the day I die. And after that, I'm sure that my soul will harbour the exact same feelings for an eternity."

"Laying it on a bit thick, but I guess I'm so loveable it's hard not to." Laxus grinned. "Well, you earned this."

Yet again, Laxus dropped Freed into the pool. The rune mage looked towards his husband with an amused glare.

"You are dead, Dreyar."

"Dreyar-Justine. Get it right."


End file.
